Book 4: Spirits, Humans, and Undead
by TootieFrootie
Summary: She had a fierce, vengeful look in her eyes as she raised the same arm again, her fingers curled up once more as fire spurted between her fingers. “I’m the avatar.” She smirked, before all Zuko and Aang could see was fire and roots shooting to them.


**Title: **Book 4: The Spirits, Humans, and Undead.

**Chapter: **Chapter 1 – May the Avatar please stand up.

**Author: **TootieFrootie

**Summary: **She had a fierce, vengeful look in her eyes as she raised the same arm again, her fingers curled up once more as fire spurted between her fingers. "I'm the avatar." She smirked, before all Zuko and Aang could see was fire and roots shooting straight towards them, and then pitch darkness.

Aang defeated the fire lord, the world is finally safe again…Or is it? Join the gang in Book 4 as they race to save the human race from annihilation and fight to fix a dreadful mistake made by the avatar's past, while truly understanding both themselves and the world around them.

_**I **_**do not own Avatar or any characters, places, things, toys, rocks created by © Avatar: The last Airbender. All I own is my own created places, toys, things, people, rocks that I made on my free time.**

**© Copyright of Avatar: The Last Airbender and Me somewhere in the middle :)**

_**Prologue :**_

After Aang defeated fire lord Ozai, peace returned to the land; but it didn't last. 1 year later, there was a great earthquake, and strange things began happening onwards. Mai died 3 days later of an unknown-disease, along with hundreds of other people. Crops began disappearing; animals found mutilated, and people turning demonic and attacking others in the street, before dying quietly.

Some say a strange phenomenon has happened and the past avatars had made a dreadful spirit mistake, but no one knows.

Aang decided to take things into his own hands. Sokka, Katara, Toph, Momo, Appa and Zuko accompanied him, Sokka leaving Suki behind in Katahimera fortress (an under-water castle surrounded by a large-air dome) so she would be safe. Aang has failed getting in contact Avatar Roku, and this troubles him greatly. What was going on?

It was up to them to find out what was going on, and stop it, before the human race was wiped out.

OoOoOoOoOoO

"It's funny," Aang chuckled quietly, sitting on Appa's head and using one hand to hold the reigns, sitting cross legged with the other hand supporting his head. It was a warm night, but the sky above was lost behind a dark blanket of storm-cloud, a dreary look.

"Hmm?" Katara looked up, humming softly as she tip-toed over to him not to wake everyone else.

"I thought that once I defeated the fire lord…that was it…you know? But now its almost like something worse has come, and I _still_ feel so unprepared, so untrained…" Aang turned to Katara, a sad look in his eyes.

"Oh Aang…life is so hard, the evil is never truly gone. And it doesn't matter how much you know or not, it matters what's in your heart and how you try, and _that_ makes the difference in the end." She smiled softly, and Aang couldn't help but smile back. She kissed him on his head, before snuggling in his lap and falling asleep.

OoOoOoOoOoO

"YAOW!" Sokka grunted loudly, jumping up and looked up in horror, clambering to hold onto anything quickly. It was mid-morning, and Appa was hit by something. They were spiraling down at a fast pace, Aang unable to control the descent and looked back at everyone wide-eyed. Appa moaned loudly, tilting dangerously on his side.

"JUMP!" He shouted as he looked down and saw the ground hurtling toward them.

"What!" Toph was on her hands and knees, confused and frightened. Zuko gripped her waist and jumped off the side, taking her with him.

"Katara!" Aang stumbled up, grabbing Katara's hand and opened his flier, as she held onto him for dear life.

"WHAT ABOUT ME!!" Sokka shrieked, looked over and saw Momo. Momo's eyes widened as Sokka grabbed him and jumped off, Momo struggling to keep in the air with the extra weight, flapping wildly as Sokka held onto his foot. Momo chattered at him angrily as he shook his foot, Sokka slipping off his foot.

"Momo!!" Sokka yelped, closing his eyes tightly, waiting for death to take him.

"Uhm…Sokka…" Zuko muttered. Sokka opened one eye slowly; he had landed in a bush. He blushed madly, jumping up and dusting himself off, acting as if nothing had happened.

"Aang! What the heck happened?!" Toph yelled at Aang as he pulled a couple twigs from his hair, hands on her hips madly.

"It's not MY fault! Appa got hit by something! Oh no…Appa!" He turned around wildly, looking for his large friend. They seemed to have fallen into an opening in a thick forest. Everywhere they turned was the looming darkness of the forest, and this was the only area without even a single pebble.

"Were did he go?" Aang was panicking, turning around in circles.

"Aang! It's no use if you start screaming! Whatever hit us could still be here." Katara grabbed him from behind, clamping her hand on his mouth to quiet him.

"She's right, whatever it was, didn't want us near them. We've got to be careful." Zuko knelt on the floor, examining the dirt. Aang nodded, Katara releasing him.

"There's someone here." Toph whispered, everyone immediately freezing in their places, barely breathing as Toph used her blindsight on the surrounding area.

"There!" She pointed to a spot in the tree tops. Zuko and Aang ducked, throwing fire and air balls at the area as Toph slammed her foot into the ground and a boulder shot up into the trees. There was a grunt as a black figure shot out of the tree tops and landed deeper into the forest.

"Who was that?!" Katara breathed, clutching her water canteen.

"I don't know, but whoever it is, I don't know where he went." Toph turned slightly in her spot, trying to find the figure. Zuko stood with his back to them, crouching as he prepared himself, squinting in the distance.

"Aang!" He croaked, and Aang immediately understood. Instantly he was at his side, and they both shot fire into the area Zuko was squinting at.

"Did we get him?" Aang clenching his fists tightly.

"No." There was a loud mischievous cackle that broke the deathly silence. Everyone turned at the voice sharply and looked up, but nothing was there. Sokka held up his sword angrily, taking a step forward.

"Show yourself!" He shouted at nothing, flailing his sword.

"Tsk, babies shouldn't be playing with pointy objects." The female voice rang out again, but was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, a vine shot out of nowhere and grabbed Sokka's sword, yanking it away from him and dragging it back into the forest. The gang backed up into each other, each giving their backs as they all faces different directions.

"Who are you?" Zuko questioned softly, getting his footing as he stared intently at the patch of trees in front of him.

"Now now, don't question mummy, she's very busy." The voice sang again.

"Excuse me! What do you me-AAH!" Toph shrieked as another vine shot out and grabbed her foot, dragging her into the forest quickly as her voice faded away.

"TOPH!" Sokka stepped forward, "Give her back you old cow!"

"Babies have been very very naughty to mummy, must be…punished." The voice changed drastically to a deep, mysterious tone followed by a low growl. Three vines shot out this time and grabbed Sokka's feet and clamped around his mouth, taking him back into the forest as well.

"No!!" Aang began to panic as he stood closer to Katara, "Why are you doing this?!"

"Demon!" There was an angry scream as Katara vanished as well. Aang backed up into Zuko, visibly shaking.

"Aang…stay calm." Zuko whispered to him, Aang nodding as he inhaled slowly and stopped shaking so hard. Suddenly, flames shot up into the sky, surrounding the two of them in intense heat. A door parted through the fire, both of the boys turning to it quickly, barely breathing.

Pebbles crackled as feet stepped over them quietly, a hooded figure standing in the doorway. It was a deep olive-green cloak, concealing the entire body and draped to the floor, with the hood so low they couldn't even see the figure's chin.

"Why are you here?" Zuko lit his fist on fire, ready to shoot it at whoever this was. The figure raised one hand slowly, palm outstretched toward them as if in welcome; in a fraction of a second though, it kneeled forward on both legs, hands clenched at the sides and shot towards Aang, a loud _bam_ at the contact. Aang flew backwards as the flames disappeared, slamming into a tree. It raised its hand again, curling up its fingers like a cat and roots shot out of the ground, wrapping around Aang tightly as he struggled to break free. Zuko took no chances, slamming his fists into the ground as a wave of fire hurtled towards the cloaked figure. It turned quickly, shooting out of harms way into the forest again. Zuko stood there, panting as he turned around, looking for it. There was a deafening crack as it shot back out, hand outstretched as it grasped Zuko's neck and slammed his head into a trunk, choking him.

"Demon leave this earth and free all those you've enslaved!" A hoarse, cracking voice from within hood screeched at him, digging its nails into his neck.

"No! We're not demons! Let him go!" Aang yelled, thrashing around, trying his best to break free as he used every element he could power up, but whatever he broke just grew back again and wrapped even tighter around him. Zuko gripped its fingers, trying to pry its hand off. Suddenly, he had and idea, and shot his foot forward, kicking it in the knee fiercely. It shrieked, dropping him immediately as it staggered back. Zuko took this moment and threw fire at the figure, falling on his knees at the force, but it ducked underneath it and seemed to dissolve in mid-air, vanishing.

Zuko stood up, panting as he wiped his forehead.

"Watch out!" Aang looked up into the sky. Zuko followed his gaze, staggering back and his eye widened. A long, slender, almost snake-like dragon roared, bright green eyes piercing at him as it flapped its massive wings. The dragon had many scars on it, all in the shape of thunder-bolts trailing down its body, but the most obvious one was a dark-red wound starting at its sharp yellow horns at the top of its head and trailed down, over its eyelids and right under on nostril. The cloaked figure sat on its back as it dropped down to the ground, the dragon's face moving and was just a hairs-length away from Zuko's, growling viciously, but Zuko did not panic. Calmly, he looked up at the figure and stared intently at it, never faltering.

"Who are you?" He questioned again, standing steady with his hands at his sides.

There was a soft, feminine chuckle as its hand raised again, but to pull down its hood. Zuko gasped, stepping backward and falling. A girl, around his age, with sea-green eyes and soft almond-colored hair pulled back into a bun with some bangs hanging loose, stared back at him. She had a strange scar, one that started right under her jaw-bone on her right side and trailed down the side of her neck, disappearing behind the cloak. She had a fierce, vengeful look in her eyes as she raised the same arm again, her fingers curled up once more as fire spurted between her fingers.

"I'm the avatar." She smirked, before all Zuko and Aang could see was fire and roots shooting straight towards them, and then pitch darkness.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

**Reviews, messages, critique, and cake much appreciated. So go ahead and press that button, You know you want to =D **

Hope you enjoyed the first chapter :) Much more soon to come, I promise! I know this chapter is a bit rushed and not that well written, but I wanted to get into it as quick as I could [ I suck at beginnings ha-ha] but it will get better, I swear.

Chapter 2 will be up in a couple hours, as I'm home alone and dreadfully bored AHA. -_-

**Chapter 2 – You're not the Avatar, I am! **

**Zuko tries to overcome a painful past as old wounds rip open his heart again, as Aang fights to escape with his life and look for the others who were kidnapped before going into a head-to-head battle with the imposter, leaving a lost Zuko behind, to stop the cloaked figure before its too late.**


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